Sunday, 6 April 2014

These days, its possible
to eat three meals a day without ever entering a kitchen and doing any sort of
food prep. Unfortunately, our society’s obsession with fast, cheap and
convenient is wrecking havoc on our health. I’ve never preached Canada’s Food
Guide, but instead think we should be focusing on eating real food (Amen, Michael
Pollan) and pushing for a ‘back to the kitchen’ movement where we prepare,
cook, and enjoy our own foods. As a busy student, there are days I don’t feel
like cooking, especially when I’m pressed for time during exam periods. Having
said that, a little preparation, less time on Facebook Snapchat, Twitter, what
have you, and an appreciation for real food can mean lots of healthy choices
you can feel proud about serving yourself and others. Below I have listed five
items that are readily available in all grocery stores, but I encourage you to
try making on your own and tasting the difference real food makes.

Roast chicken- ah the
roast chicken, so easy and convenient, sitting there next to the check-out at
Sobey’s, calling at you to pick up along with some other premade sides for a
quick and easy dinner. I don’t disagree that roast chicken is convenient, but
it’s way healthier and cheaper to make your own at home. I wait for Blue Goose
Organic chickens to go on sale, and will buy at least two at once and freeze
one right away. It takes about 1-1 ½ hours to cook a whole chicken, so set
aside time on a day when you’re home early enough or great for Sunday night and
then have leftovers all week long. I season my own chicken with chopped garlic,
sea salt, and cilantro, roast it whole with a lemon quarter which I drizzle
over with some of the pan drippings at the end. The result is a crispy,
delicious chicken that has much more flavour than store-bought, and way less
sodium, preservatives and other scary ingredients.

Almond butter- almond
butter is expensive! Especially if you buy the good organic stuff by the jar
and use in baking, you can easily go through a few jars on one month. I like
using almond butter in grain-free muffin and brownie recipes, and discovered
that its easy to make your own using a good quality food processor. I followed directions for making homemade almond butter posted here, and made my own delicious creamy almond butter in 15 minutes.
I lightly toast my almonds in the oven first for a little extra flavour, and
feel free to add some spices (sea salt, vanilla cinnamon) or a little bit of
natural sweetener (honey, maple syrup) and other seeds (ground flax, sesame,
pumpkin seeds etc.) for an extra rich and indulgent treat. If you prefer
crunchy, add a few chopped almonds at the end. Next on my list is homemade
cashew butter, I bought a giant 1Kg bag of raw organic cashews by Prana at
Winner’s the other day, another great foodie find! I did some number crunching
and the price of the bag was comparable to buying cashew at Bulk Barn.

Ice cream

Admittedly, you need to
have an ice cream maker or stand mixer attachment for this one, but seriously,
once you try homemade ice cream you will never buy store-bought again. I love
making dairy free ice cream using a combination of canned coconut milk and
almond milk, and the best part is I can adjust the sweetness to taste with organic
unpasteurized honey, making it taste way better and substantially reducing the
sugar content of store-bought brands. Especially if you buy low-fat or fat-free
ice cream, all you are doing is consuming roughly the same calories, but more
empty calories in the form of extra sugar to make up for the flavor lost in
fat. This peanut butter vegan ice cream was made in my kitchen stand mixer ice
cream maker attachment, and poured over a date-almond-cocoa crust for a
friend’s birthday party, it was a big hit!

Overpriced & dry GF bakery items and desserts

The price difference is
ridiculous between regular and GF bakery items. If you look at the ingredient
list, the first few items listed are often white rice flour, potato starch and
sugar, all of which have zero nutritional value and will send your blood sugar
soaring. Instead make your own baked goods and desserts at home. It will be
cheaper, healthier and taste 100% better I promise. Here are two of my
favourite dessert and muffin recipes. For ingredients below, I used PC organics
unsweetened applesauce that comes in a pack of 6 individual containers.

Combine dates and walnuts in a
food processor until a ball forms. Add coconut and press into bottom of 8x5
loaf pan.

For the topping, combine banana,
applesauce, cocoa powder, cashew butter, cinnamon vanilla and honey in bowl,
mixing well. Pour over crust and place in freezer until firm, about ½ hour. Cut
into squares and serve or store in freezer. Now get your bum in the get and start cooking!

About Me

A current student at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, I aspire to share my passion for fitness, health, nutrition and life with all my patients when I graduate and become a licensed Naturopathic Doctor.